Sherry Johnson, at left, was the winner of a game in which players try to unwrap a present while wearing oven mitts and a festive Santa hat during the American Legion Post #974's annual Turkey Trot in Franklin Park on Nov. 10. Johnson won a puzzle.

Sherry Johnson, at left, was the winner of a game in which players try to unwrap a present while wearing oven mitts and a festive Santa hat during the American Legion Post #974's annual Turkey Trot in Franklin Park on Nov. 10. Johnson won a puzzle. (Rachel K. Hindery/Pioneer Press)

Rachel K. HinderyPioneer Press

For Lena Ybarra, 4, it was a night on the dance floor. For Robert McCown, 86, it was a birthday bonanza.

Lena and McCown joined nearly 100 people at Franklin Park American Legion Post #974’s Turkey Trot on Nov. 10.

The tradition of food, games, and dancing is 25 years strong, according to members. Tickets and raffles raise more than $2,000 for local and national programs supporting military veterans and their families.

Millie Gort has been Turkey Trotting since 1994. At first, people cooked turkeys at home.

"We would bring them back the Friday before, and the guys would carve them," Gort said. "We'd make our own stuffing," topping turkeys with homemade giblet gravy.

Memories of family, friends, food and fun intermingle at the Turkey Trot.

Ophelia Hendle said she’d attended almost every one.

"My husband was with me for all those years," Hendle said. "We had raffle gifts; it was a fun time."

"It brings people together that don't always get to see each other," she said. “It brings out that camaraderie."

McCown found camaraderie at his first Turkey Trot. A U.S. Marine Corps veteran, McCown and the Marine Corps share a Nov. 10 birthday: "I'm 86, and they're 243."

Traditionally, the oldest and youngest Marines share the first slice of birthday cake. McCown, as the youngest Marine present, shared with WWII veteran Manuel “Manny” Perez, who is in his 90s.

"It makes me happy to see other Marines who are living," McCown said.

"I get to be around people I don't see every day," he said. "That's wonderful."

Laurie Ybarra said she’s been attending Turkey Trots for seven years.

"I like the community getting together," Ybarra said. "The raffles are a lot of fun."

Daughter Adelen, 8, said the best is "when we get to eat the doughnuts."

Adelen started coming at age 1; now, she’s dancing with her younger sister, Lena, her mom and her dad, Andy, which is "cool, because you get to do more things than just sit around."

Lena and Adelen are in the American Legion Auxiliary Juniors.

"They provide a lot of service opportunities for the community and for kids," Laurie Ybarra said. "Scholarships, the juniors for kids and camps."

Gort’s oldest son participates in Legion youth activities; Gort said he’s now the Illinois detachment commander in the Sons of the American Legion.

"When this organization was formed, it was the only game in town," she said. "Now, you have other things you take your kids to."

Still, "it would be nice if the younger veterans could join and take advantage of the Legion and all the benefits they're entitled to," William McMurray said. "The state has military scholarships, and they can get registered at a VA hospital even if they don't have an injury."

After Air Force service, McMurray became a firefighter, retiring as the department commander for the Franklin Park Fire Department. He’s been in the Legion since 2010, attending Turkey Trots since 2011.

McMurray refereed a game where people tried unwrapping a present while wearing oven mitts and a festive Santa hat.

Sherry Johnson, at her third Turkey Trot, won, calling the game "hectic" and "a lot of fun."

"It gave me ideas for games at parties," Johnson said, adding that she’s part of the Windy City Jitterbug Club, who rent the Post #974 hall twice per month.

"We've been coming here 20-some years and feel like it's our second home," she said.